The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) has called for urgent action to protect bees and other pollinators, warning that their declining population poses a major threat to biodiversity, food security, and livelihoods across the country.
Speaking during the commemoration of World Bee Day, Chief Conservator of Forests Alex Lemarkoko said bees play a critical role in sustaining ecosystems through pollination, which supports forest regeneration, agricultural production, and the survival of indigenous plant species.
This year’s World Bee Day is being marked under the theme “Protecting Bees for Biodiversity, Food Security, and Sustainable Forest Ecosystems.”
Lemarkoko noted that healthy pollinator populations contribute directly to climate resilience, water catchment protection, and sustainable livelihoods for millions of people.
“In Kenya, forests and pollinators share a critical ecological relationship. The conservation of forest ecosystems provides safe habitats and forage for bees, while bees enhance natural regeneration and ecosystem productivity,” he said.
The KFS boss, however, expressed concern over growing threats facing bees and other pollinators, including deforestation, forest degradation, climate change, habitat destruction, pollution, wildfires, and the indiscriminate use of harmful pesticides and chemicals.
He warned that the decline of pollinators could destabilize ecosystems and negatively affect national food systems and rural livelihoods if urgent action is not taken.
To strengthen pollinator conservation efforts, KFS has partnered with the National Bee Institute to train forest officers in beekeeping and bee management at the institute hosted on Ngong Road Forest.
Lemarkoko said that the trained officers will help promote beekeeping among Community Forest Associations while also ensuring forests remain safe habitats for bees and other pollinators.
The partnership will also focus on promoting sustainable beekeeping, supporting research and training, restoring degraded landscapes using bee-friendly indigenous tree species, and empowering forest-adjacent communities through income-generating activities linked to apiculture.
KFS reaffirmed its commitment to restoring degraded forest landscapes and water towers, conserving biodiversity, supporting community participation in forest conservation, and promoting environmental education and tree planting initiatives that support pollinator habitats.
Lemarkoko urged Kenyans to plant more indigenous and flowering trees, reduce environmental pollution, and adopt sustainable land-use practices to help protect pollinators and conserve the environment.
“Protecting bees is protecting biodiversity. Protecting biodiversity is securing our future,” he said.
David Wakogy, a prominent Kenyan environmentalist and climate action advocate, called upon Kenyans to plant bee-friendly flowers, avoid harmful chemicals, support local beekeepers, and restore wetlands and forests.
“By protecting bees, we protect food security, biodiversity, and the future of our planet,” he said in a statement today.
Wakogy explained that bees are among nature’s most important workers. They pollinate nearly one-third of the food we eat, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Without them, food production would decline, biodiversity would suffer, and ecosystems would become less resilient.
Every year on 20 May, the world celebrates World Bee Day to honour bees and other pollinators that sustain life on Earth. There are more than 20,000 species of bees worldwide.
In Kenya, the most familiar is the honeybee, Apis mellifera, which produces honey and provides essential pollination services. Beekeeping, also known as apiculture, offers farmers a sustainable source of income while promoting environmental conservation.
Honey remains an important livelihood product globally. China leads the world in honey production, while Ethiopia is Africa’s largest producer. Kenya ranks among the continent’s top honey-producing nations, with significant potential for growth.
By Wangari Ndirangu
